Abstract

Carbon-14 is a key radionuclide in the assessment of the safety of a geological disposalfacility (GDF) for radioactive waste, because of the potential radiological impact of gaseouscarbon-14 bearing species. RWM has established a project team, in which the partners worktogether to develop an holistic approach to carbon-14 management in a geological disposalsystem. This report is part one a suite of reports produced as part of the project.This report is concerned with work to understand the likely formation of a gas phase, and itssubsequent migration through the near and far field. In the absence of (i) a site for geologicaldisposal of radioactive wastes and (ii) detailed information on the GDF design, it is not possible todevelop a single conceptual model for how carbon-14 bearing gases might migrate from a GDF tothe biosphere. Rather, at this generic stage, it is appropriate to consider a range of behaviours. Aset of illustrative, post-closure cases is defined, which can be used to link the generation rates ofcarbon-14 bearing gases to radiological risk